


Discomposure

by SeriouslySam



Series: Moments in Time [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeriouslySam/pseuds/SeriouslySam
Summary: Petunia Dursley was enjoying a nice lunch in London when a boisterous family entered the restaurant. The sight of their untidy black hair and glasses made Petunia freeze.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: Moments in Time [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800097
Comments: 11
Kudos: 214





	Discomposure

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Arnel for beta-ing for me. Also, a thanks to Breanie for inspiring the idea during one of our conversations.
> 
> Please, don't forget to leave a review. It's a small payment for the hours an author spends agonizing over their stories. It takes less than a minute. Thank you for the support.

" **Discomposure"**

Petunia Dursley found herself a seated in a two-person booth tucked away in the corner of a nearly empty restaurant. She had missed the lunchtime rush as it had taken her longer than she anticipated to run her errands. She looked down at the rose gold watch on her wrist and huffed. It was nearing two o'clock and she had ordered at least fifteen minutes ago. Her jaw clenched as she pulled out the mobile phone that Dudley had convinced her to get. Why she needed things like text messages, Internet, and applications was beyond her comprehension.

She squinted down at the screen and noted the little red bubble in the corner of her messages tab. Dudley was the only one who _texted_ her, because he was incapable of actually dialing his mother's number and talking on the phone. She rifled through her pocketbook for her reading glasses.

Resting the glasses on her nose, they slid down to the very tip. She pressed the little green button and up popped her messages. She saw not Dudley's name gleaming up at her but her son's mother-in-law's name. Petunia pursed her lips. The woman was a menace. She felt positively horrid that Dudley had such a woman as a mother-in-law despite his protests that she was wonderful.

The bell on the restaurant door rang in the distance and a wave of chattering voices wafted through the restaurant. Petunia sucked in a breath, her eyes closing, as she listened to the childish voices attempting to talk over one another. Petunia jabbed her finger on _Estelle Digby_ and tried to block out the noise. How parents could be so _inconsiderate_ to allow their children to act like a bunch of hooligans in a restaurant was beyond her. She would have been mortified if Dudley had ever been so loud in a restaurant as a child.

The waitress sat down her steak and kidney pudding in front of her. Petunia nodded vaguely in her direction, her lips twisting as she sat down her phone next to her. She sucked in a breath as she picked up her fork before she froze.

"Afternoon. Six, please," a familiar male voice carried throughout the restaurant.

She shook her head as she stabbed a carrot. She was being silly. Of all the places that she would see _him_. It was the middle of the day on a Friday. Surely, he would have a job if he was taking a family of six out to a fairly decent restaurant despite the slow service.

"Follow me."

Petunia glanced over. She caught sight of the woman first. She was short with her red hair pulled back into a high ponytail that swung with every step she took. A little boy with messy black hair was attached to her hip. He had large, green eyes on a thin face. He could have been no older than six or seven. Petunia held her breath at the sight of him. Her eyes glided to take in the other members of the family.

Two more boys who were older than the first. Both with extremely untidy black hair. The younger of the two had spectacles on his face, his nose splattered with an array of freckles. The older boy had to have been at least fifteen, towering over the other children with a heart-shaped face and a seemingly permanent grin splashed across his features. The boys were laughing loudly, the older one wrapping an arm around the younger one's shoulders.

Lastly, a very tiny little girl. She was the youngest of them all. She had red hair like her mother but a deeper auburn. Brown eyes hid behind a pair of obnoxious spangled, purple glasses. The features were so familiar though – the thin face, the almond-shaped eyes, the knobby knees.

"Daddy!"

The little girl turned around and held up her arms to the man Petunia thought she'd never see again. He still had the mop of untidy hair where it stood up straight in the very back of his head. Just above his ears, a speck of gray shone prominently on the otherwise dark hair. His face was still thin though the rest of him had filled out. He had grown muscular, the lines in his arms peeking out from his t-shirt tensed as he lifted the girl up into his arms and swung her on his hip. He had replaced his round spectacles with a square cut that fit his features a lot better. There was a smile spread across his face. Petunia couldn't remember a time she ever saw him smile before. It lit up his whole face. He looked a lot more like his father when he smiled.

"I wanna sit by Daddy and Teddy!" the little girl chirped as her arms wrapped around her father's neck and pressed their cheeks together, their spectacles clinking against each other.

Petunia watched as the children clambered into the corner booth, their parents each taking a spot on the edge. The little girl sat next to her father and the oldest boy. Petunia couldn't stop staring at him and his family. She felt a lump form in her throat.

The boy had become a man but she couldn't think of him as anything else. The boy with the unnatural, unruly hair. He had obviously passed it down to his children. Even the tiny girl's auburn curls were unnaturally messy. How unfortunate.

Her gaze flickered to the oldest boy. She did the math in her head and realized that the boy must have been a teenager when the child was born. Obviously, he was just as reckless and irresponsible as she always suspected he was. Getting a girl pregnant when he was just a child himself. Petunia stabbed another carrot and plopped it into her mouth. It tasted like cardboard as she chewed.

The waitress rushed over to them as soon as they sat down to take their drink order. The boy laughed at something, his green eyes sparkling in a way Petunia couldn't remember ever seeing. The little girl was hanging on him still but he made no indication that it bothered him in the slightest.

Once the waitress left the table, the boy turned towards his daughter and his fingers tickled underneath her armpits. She let out a loud squeal of delight. The few patrons in the restaurant smiled and chuckled at the display. Petunia only frowned.

She continued to eat her meal and became increasingly peeved by the family in the corner of the restaurant. The children were very animated as they continued to talk over one another as though that was socially acceptable. She found herself sneaking peeks at the boy. He looked so different than the last time she saw him.

The last time she had truly spoken to him was right before he turned seventeen. The last time she had seen him was a few years later at Dudley's wedding. She couldn't recall if she had even said one word to him, but she remembered the redhead that had been with him. It must have been the same redhead who had mothered four of his children. She looked vaguely familiar but Petunia wouldn't have been able to pick her out of a line-up without him by her side.

The most peculiar thing was that the boy kept laughing and smiling. There was not a moment that passed that she saw anything but happiness on his features throughout the meal. His smile didn't even falter when he pointed at the boy with the glasses with an apparent admonishment.

Finishing up her meal as quickly as she could, she asked for the bill and promptly handed over her card. She folded her hands in her lap as she waited for the receipt, her eyes boring into the family. He obviously had done well for himself. His kids were all dressed nicely in clothes that fit well with few wrinkles. The clothes all looked new with not even a speck of dirt. The spectacles were higher end as well, sturdy and best suited for their faces.

When the waitress left the receipt and card with her, Petunia hastily signed her name at the bottom before sliding her card into her purse. She grabbed her pocketbook and made her way to the loo quickly before she made the long drive home to Surrey.

She quickly did her business and stood in front of the sink. She washed her hands as the door to the loo opened. In stepped two redheads, giggles on their lips and smiles on their faces. The woman smiled politely at Petunia.

"I can go alone, Mummy! I'm _five_." The little girl made to close her mother out of the cubicle.

"Alright, can you get the latch?"

Petunia looked at the woman in the mirror. What had Dudley said her name was? Jenny? Janus? She remembered Dudley had attended their wedding, had said it had been a very big affair. The hall had apparently been packed and everyone had such _nice_ things to say about them.

"I got it, Mummy! I do it at school."

The woman crossed her arms and walked away from the cubicle. She leaned against the wall next to the paper towel dispenser and was shaking her head. Her eye caught Petunia's.

"Children." She shrugged.

"Yes, well, I only had a boy so I didn't get the pleasure of public loos with him," Petunia said stiffly, not knowing exactly what possessed her to even say anything back.

"Lucky. I had that pleasure until very recently." She smiled, her gaze flickering to the cubicle.

"She looks remarkably like you." Petunia grabbed some paper towels to dry her hands.

"Really? I think she looks like my husband." The woman was still smiling. "In fact, I swear, if you look at a picture of my husband's mother, they look just alike minus the eyes. She does have my eyes."

Petunia's lips thinned.

"Mummy! My dress isn't right!"

"Well, come out and I'll help you right it!" The woman kicked off the wall. "If you would have just let me come in with you, there would be no issues."

"I'm a big girl now! I think it's in my underwear!"

"Tug it out, Lily!"

_Lily_. Petunia froze. Of course, he would name his daughter Lily. Lily with her auburn hair and pale skin. The little girl opened the cubicle door and Petunia was able to get a good look at her. She _did_ look like her namesake minus the eyes and glasses. At the same time, she looked oddly like her father. The woman swooped in and helped the girl tug the hem of her dress out before she pointed at the toilet and told the girl to flush.

"Oops!" The girl gave a sheepish smile before trotting back in to flush.

"I swear, they never grow out of that. I'm still telling my nine-year-old to flush." The woman ran a hand down her face. "At least my teenager has the sense that flushing is essential. One out of four is something, isn't it?"

Petunia nodded, her eyes on the small girl who rose on her tiptoes to turn on the faucet. She whined when she couldn't reach the soap. The woman pumped the soap with the back of her hand. The girl happily said thanks as she rubbed her hands together, her hands clapping together as the foam splattered.

Blinking, Petunia tossed the paper towel into the bin. She cast one last look at the mother and daughter duo before stepping out of the loo. As she walked to the exit, she gave one last look at the corner booth. The messy-haired boys were still smiling and laughing. She stilled, adjusting her pocketbook on her forearm.

Then, the boy looked up. His gaze wandered towards the loo before it glided across the room. His bright green eyes locked with her dull green ones. The smile slowly fell from his face. He blinked at her, his lips parting slightly. Petunia quickly looked away and bustled out of the restaurant without another glance back.

* * *

Ginny rubbed her hands together to spread the lotion around. She exited the master bath to see Harry lying on the bed with one arm propped behind his head and the other resting on his bare chest. He had become unusually quiet midway through lunch. His silence continued the rest of the day and into the evening.

Pulling back the covers, she slid in under them. She ran her foot along his calf before inching closer to him. He jerked his head towards her as though snapping out of a trance.

"You alright?" Ginny touched his bicep.

"Hmm, yeah."

"Did something happen at lunch? You started to brood halfway through." Ginny bit her bottom lip. "You haven't been yourself since."

"I'm not brooding."

"So, you've been sullen all day and night for no reason, then? You've just been giving your kids an abundant number of hugs and kisses just because you felt like it?" Ginny frowned. "Albus literally had to ask you to stop because you were smothering him. Our seven-year-old said you were smothering him."

His brow furrowed underneath his glasses as he turned away from her. His Adam's apple bobbed as his eyes darted around the room. She moved her hand from his bicep to his chest, tracing along an odd oval-shaped scar that he apparently received from a locket. Her eyes flickered to his face. She _knew_ something was bothering him. He was as transparent as an open book.

"It's nothing."

"Harry, what's wrong?"

He heaved a sigh, his arm withdrawing from beneath his head. He pushed his glasses up, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. She flattened her palm against his chest, her fingers splaying.

"I think I saw my aunt today."

"You saw your aunt? Where?" Ginny sat up immediately.

She shifted her body so that she was facing him. Her legs tucked neatly by her bum. She leaned over him so that one hand was on the mattress by his side and the other touched his shoulder. He righted his glasses before resting his palm against her thigh.

"At the restaurant." He shrugged. "You were in the loo with Lily. I looked up to see if you were on your way back yet and I saw her just standing there, staring at me."

Ginny brushed her fingers along his collarbone. She thought back to the loo and to the woman who seemed oddly familiar to her but she couldn't place. Had that been Petunia? The woman had been slightly curt but seemingly interested in Lily. She had looked at Lily with a peculiar look, with a longing almost.

"I never thought I'd see her again," Harry continued with a faraway look. "I've never seen her out before. I mean, we saw her at Dudley's wedding but never just randomly like that."

"Are you alright with it? Seeing her?"

Ginny reached up and brushed his fringe off his forehead. The lightning bolt scar stared at her seemingly redder than she had seen it recently. Her fingertips brushed along it until she reached his brow. She brushed her thumb along where the hair was missing.

"I don't know how to feel." His eyes flickered to her face. "She was cruel and vile."

"She has no say over your life anymore." Ginny continued to trail her fingers down the side of his face. "You're free from her."

"I just lost myself for a moment. It was like I was a kid again when I saw her staring at me. I expected her to start screaming, but she just turned and left." Harry let out a strained chuckle. "That's mental. It's so completely mental."

"Harry, it's not mental. It's normal." Ginny ran her thumb below his bottom lip. "You never talk about what it was like growing up with them. Maybe it would help if you did talk to someone. You know I'm always here for you. I'm always willing to listen. You just have to name the day, time, and place. It doesn't have to be me though. It could be Ron or my mum or a professional. I think it would help you. Give you some closure."

"There's not much to talk about, Gin. They treated me like I was a cockroach that invaded their home that they couldn't get rid of."

Ginny's felt her heart break at the words. She knew the Dursleys had abused Harry but she never fully understood just how badly. Ron had made comments that they were downright abusive monsters. Her mother had said they were severely neglectful. Her father had said they were the most unpleasant Muggles he had ever met. Fred and George had said his bedroom was eerily like a prison.

"Don't look at me like that." Harry squared his jaw.

"How am I looking at you?" Ginny dropped her hand back to his chest.

"Like you pity me."

"Harry."

"Ginny."

She let out a shuddering sigh, her chin tucking to her chest. She stared at the steady rise and fall of his chest as thoughts swirled around in her head.

"You are a remarkable father, do you know that?" Ginny glanced back up at him with a soft smile. "You are an amazing husband. If Ron and George were here, they'd tell you that you are the best brother that they could have asked for. I'm pretty sure they would choose you over me any day of the week. You are an extraordinary man. I don't pity you, Harry. I have never pitied you. I'm sad that you let those gormless, wanking twats affect you so much. I love you, Harry James Potter, so damn much."

Harry stilled under her touch. His eyes searched her face. He pushed himself up until he was sitting vis-a-vis with her. He reached out, his fingers brushing her jaw. She leaned into his touch, a soft smile gracing her features.

"One of my earliest memories was of my Aunt Petunia telling me I wasn't allowed to hug her. She told me I was unnatural, freakish. She didn't want that rubbing off on her." Harry's voice was barely above a whisper, so Ginny leaned in closer to hear him better. "I remember crying that night over it, wondering what I could do so I wasn't such a freak. I spent years wondering what was wrong with me, why I was so _wrong_. It took me a long time to realize that no matter what I did, my aunt would never love me."

" _Harry_."

"When I saw her today, I wasn't Harry Potter, Head Auror. I wasn't Harry the husband or Harry the father. I was just the scared little boy who tried to avoid making noise or making a mistake." Harry licked his bottom lip, his green eyes piercing into hers. "I know you want to know every detail of my childhood. I appreciate how you've never pushed me on it. There's not much to tell, Gin. I swear. It was a lot of isolation and trying not to make any mistakes. It was all about being as small as possible and avoiding punishment. When I got to Hogwarts, I stood up to them more and more. I think they became slightly scared of me. They were afraid to push me around as much. I used to threaten them with Sirius, you know? My crazed murdering godfather."

Harry let out a low chuckle. Ginny reached out and grasped his hand in hers, squeezing his fingers.

"I just didn't expect to see her." He shrugged.

Ginny gripped either side of his face and lowered his head. She drew her face forward and placed a kiss directly over his scar. She let her lips linger as his hands ran up her bare thighs and disappeared under her shirt that had once belonged to him.

"She doesn't deserve you. She missed out on knowing you, on knowing the kids. She couldn't get over her own bitterness with whatever her issue was with your mum." Ginny murmured against him. "You deserve so much better than her. You deserve the moon and the stars. You deserve people who love you unconditionally. I hope you understand that you found that, that you made your own family. Andromeda loves you like a son. My parents love you like a son. My brothers love you like a brother. The kids love you and look up to you. I love you no matter what. We've made a beautiful family together. We're the Potters. That is so special."

"The Potters." Harry grinned.

"The Potters."

"I love you, Gin."

Ginny gave his hand another squeeze before she laid back against the pillows. She tugged Harry to follow her. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and he rested his head against her breast. She ran her fingers through his hair until she heard his breathing even out. She leaned forward to kiss him on his unruly hair, a smiling spreading across her lips.


End file.
